Opinion Column

The way forward for American unions

It’s almost too easy. “Big Labor” or “the unions” are now political epithets for conservatives, and a dismissive shorthand among the political class for an moribund movement whose death has seemed destined for decades.

Big Labor’s bitter fate has been exacerbated by a reactionary worldview every bit as outdated as the one Mitt Romney propagated in his 47 percent speech.

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Labor leaders have remained famously tone deaf for decades, ignoring the political and economic realities that have been slapping their members in the face with every plant closing and political rout. But champions of American capitalism should not be celebrating these missteps but instead begin reaching out to their former foes to focus on how to expand the middle class by reforming Big Labor.

Such change is always a difficult. In this case, it will be a particularly heavy lift.

A brief look at history shows that the past half century has not been kind to unions. Since 1947, workers who preferred choice in the marketplace supported “Right-to-Work” laws at the ballot box. That steady drumbeat against closed union shops continued this week in Michigan, where the legislature enacted Right-to-Work laws in America’s most unionized state. Michigan now becomes the 24th state to bring choice into the workplace since the Taft-Hartley Act passed in 1947.

Taft-Hartley amended the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, which gave labor bosses the power to fire workers who refused to join a union. After Taft-Hartley, states were given the right to enact Right-to-Work laws. In the 65 years that have followed, unions have suffered one defeat after another at the hands of the American voter.

Unlike many of my conservative brethren, I take no delight in the collapse of unions nor am reflexively anti-union for reasons that are personal, political and practical.

Personally, I have always related more to union workers than corporate bosses because I grew up in a family where we were always the employees instead of the employers. Like a lot of kids of my generation, I saw the workplace through the eyes of my dad. His struggles to get ahead at work, deal with irrational bosses or keep his job during bad economic times shaped my views of the workplace.

That point of view was not evident in my congressional voting record, where I usually voted against union leaders’ political agendas. But I was still always looking for opportunities to support union workers. That was not only because of personal sympathies but also because of political realities. For reasons that escaped my Democratic opponents, I got the vote of most union members in my district.

I remember attacking “union bosses” during the 1996 campaign. The AFL-CIO had earmarked $100 million in a nasty campaign to defeat freshman Republicans. After one speech, a big guy who had been to my house to fix a phone took me to the side and whispered, “Hey Congressman, shut up.”

“What?”

“Stop trashing unions,” he said. “Ignore the attack ads. We’re all still voting for you.”

I really appreciate this point of view. As someone who grew up the same as Mr. Scarbrough and put myself through college working at a union controlled logistics company. I am strongly conservative and want America to be competitive but at the same time my roots always give me pause to reflect on what being in a union means to the vast majority of its members.

Labor leaders care about their paycheck. The workers are an afterthought. I am all for workers organizing, but these outside "labor" groups (ran by 6 figure fat @sses) are the problem. They have no real skin in the game since they can get everyone fired while still drawing their own paycheck. Keep the unions small and local.

I remember back when I was in school and we were studying unions. I had a conversation with my Grandfather who had worked his way up in a steel strapping company - at the time he was a plant manager. I was gung ho union - what a great thing unions were to look after their members. They made sure that they got paid fair and had good working conditions, etc. etc. etc. Well, I got a lesson from my Grandfather. He showed me real life examples of how the workers in their non-union plants actually got better pay and benefits - largely because they didn't have to struggle with dealing with the union bureaucray and politics. While I am not for abolishing unions, I agree that they need to look at themselves and make some serious changes. One of the biggest complaints that I have is that they have become more about politics and less about the worker and what is truly in the worker's best interest. Perhaps if unions were prohibited from participating in politics altogether???

I would never join a union because they tend to lobby, campaign and spend their money on issues that are counter to my views. Why should MY money go to support things that I oppose? Additionally, look at what happened with Hostess. THey were under orders from a bankruptcy court trying to stay in business and yet one of the unions would not budge - hence EVERYONE lost their jobs. Was that in the best interest of their membership?

While the AARP is not a union - it is similar in that it takes membership money and lobbies issues, etc. When they came out in support of Obamacare, I cancelled my membership. I was greatly disappointed as I was a new member and had waited for years to be eligible for some of their benefits, but could not support an organization that backed something I was so opposed to.

If they want to stay relevant - unions need to rethink their role. People work too hard for their money to see it go to support policies that they are opposed to

Gee, Uncle Joe, tell us another fairy tale. We like the one about "a rising tide lifts all boats." But Uncle Joe, how come the rising tide never lifts all the boats in real life? We only see a few big yachts out there, and most of the little boats are swamped. How come the folks in the yachts never throw out any life jackets? I guess they are always too busy looking for sunnier climes.

Now Uncle Joe, tell us the one about you and Great Uncle Ronnie, and how you really like to go out for a beer with the working stiffs. Then tell us about those meanie Dems and their union thugs. Gee, Uncle Joe, you are so brave to stand up for those poor workers when all your friends are throwing rotten apples at them. Tell us how Great Uncle Ronnie defeated the evil Cesar Chavez and saved the grapes.

Uncle Joe, can you explain to us why all your friends have nice big houses and cars and lots of toys, while all the poor workers and their families are having trouble making ends meet? Do you think we should pull out Great Uncle Ronnie's ouija board and look for an answer? Or should we put out a Christmas stocking for them?